Heritage in Argyll Forest Park

Argyll Forest Park has a special place in the history of Scottish forestry: the Forestry Commission took on its first tract of land in Scotland when it leased part of Glenbranter in 1921.

At the time, the estate laird was Sir Harry Lauder, one of Britain’s most popular entertainers. In the village cemetery there’s a poignant memorial to Sir Harry’s son, who was killed in the First World War.

Later, Glenbranter became a workers’ village for the foresters who helped with the huge planting schemes that covered Argyll. Hundreds of thousands of trees were grown in a tree nursery at Ardentinny and sent to plant forests all over Scotland.

Today the best place to get a flavour of the spirit of forest research is Kilmun Arboretum, with its remarkable collection of exotic trees.